Books like

Books like Termination Shock

12 books with a reading profile close to Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. Outward-looking; a moderate read.

1

The Water Knife

by Paolo Bacigalupi

Also outward-looking · thriller, narrative

Set in a near-future American Southwest, the story follows Angel Velasquez, a hired mercenary for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
2

Foundation's Fear

by Gregory Benford

Also outward-looking · narrative, science fiction

In this prequel to the original series, Hari Seldon maneuvers through the dangerous bureaucracy of Trantor while seeking the post of First Minister under Emperor Cleon I.
3

The Ministry for the Future

by Kim Stanley Robinson

Also outward-looking · analytical, narrative

The narrative begins with a catastrophic heatwave in India that kills millions, prompting the creation of a Zurich-based UN body titled the Ministry for the Future.
4

The Children of Men

by P.D. James

thriller, narrative

Set in 2021, the story follows Theo Faron, an Oxford historian living in a world where human sperm counts have dropped to zero, ending all births.
5

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

by Tom O'Neill

Also outward-looking · analytical, narrative

Tom O’Neill spent twenty years investigating the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, uncovering discrepancies in the official prosecution narrative established by Vincent Bugliosi.
6

The science of The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

by Michael Hanlon, Michael Hanlon

Also outward-looking · analytical, science fiction

Michael Hanlon examines the physics and biology behind Douglas Adams’s space comedy, comparing fictional inventions to real laboratory research.
7

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

Also outward-looking · analytical, narrative

Kristin Kobes Du Mez traces the seventy-year evolution of American evangelicalism from a religious movement focused on internal piety into a political force defined by militant patriarchy.
8

The Day of the Triffids

by John Wyndham, Marcel Battin

Also outward-looking · narrative, science fiction

Bill Masen wakes in a London hospital with his eyes bandaged, missing a spectacular celestial display that has blinded almost everyone on Earth.
9

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

by Lawrence Wright

Also outward-looking · analytical, narrative

Lawrence Wright investigates the internal mechanics of the Church of Scientology, tracing its evolution from L.
10

All the President’s Men

by Carl Bernstein

Also outward-looking · analytical, narrative

In 1972, a botched burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex triggered an investigation by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
11

The Ferryman

by Justin Cronin

thriller, narrative

The story takes place on Prospera, an isolated archipelago protected by a high-tech veil.
12

The Currents of Space

by Isaac Asimov

Also outward-looking · narrative, science fiction

Technical analyst Rikare has forgotten his identity after a mental wipe, leaving him a confused laborer on the planet Florina.

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